Trickle Down Economics Disproved Again

Somewhat lost in the news dominated by Russia and healthcare, the Kansas experiment in supply-side economics collapse in a tidal wave of bad economic news. Five years after taxes were slashed with the promise of economic growth, crushing job loss, budget shortfalls, and reductions in education forced the Kansas legislature to raise taxes.

This experiment was conducted concurrently with the one in California, where Proposition 30 raised taxes and where economic growth has outpaced the nation as a whole, funding for education has been restored, and where a budget shortfall has been converted into a rainy day fund.

Of course, this is not news. The fact that trickle-down economics doesn’t work has been demonstrated before. Republicans predicted dire results of the Bill Clinton tax plan, but instead the result was 8 straight years with a consistent increase of either deficit reduction or surplus growth, including 4 years of budget surplus.

If you want to read more about this item, read the LA Time opinion piece written by Tom Steyer by clicking here.